Royals on the Farm 7/28

I'll start today's edition with a small comment on the Alex Gordon negotiations. Here's a quote from the Royals site on last night's Royals Notes...

"Third-baseman Alex Gordon, the Royals first-round draft pick, still has not signed. "It's a process; I know it sounds cheesy, but it's a process," Baird said."

What the hell is that supposed to mean? Is anyone questioning that it's "a process"? Word was for weeks they were just waiting for Jeff Clement to sign to set some kind of market perspective because he and Gordon have the same agent. Now Clement is signed, so that excuse is out of the way. I'm not expecting them to turn it around from that in two or three days but it's stupid to throw out these stock quotes like, "It's a process." If you know it sounds cheesy, don't say it and sound that way. Are you just trying to buy time with fans while you're haggling with money with Gordon? With the MLB payroll as low as it is this season I'd think the money would be there to pay him now -- somewhere. I'm also not saying throw the checkbook at Gordon but get him into the organization. ASAP. Little things (or maybe not so little depending on how you look at it) like this rankle me about Baird.

AAA: Omaha's bullpen actually held a slim lead and the O-Royals won their second straight in a 3-2 win over Portland Thursday. The O-Royals took a 2-0 lead in the 3rd on a 2-run single by DH Cal Pickering and made the lead 3-1 in the 4th on an RBI single by 3B Chris Truby. That lead held into the 9th, when RP Santiago Ramirez gave up a solo shot with 2 out but allowed no further damage to get the save. SP Mike Wood did all right in his first start of the season with 3 1/3 IP of 1 ER on 6 hits and 2 BB (few too many hits but not many runs to go along with them) with 2 Ks to make his ERA 2.70. RP Chris George, now back in the bullpen, got the win with 3 2/3 IP of hitless ball that included a BB and 3 Ks to move to 7-7 with a 5.51 ERA. Ramirez's save was his 7th as he went 2 IP and allowed 1 ER on 2 hits to move his ERA to 5.47. LF Matt Diaz was 2-4 with a double -- he had the hits in his first two ABs to make a streak of 8 straight hits going back to Wednesday's game....not too shabby -- and improved to .389. I'd say he wants a recall to KC. His timing isn't good though, unless Long gets traded this weekend. Pickering was 3-4 with 2 RBI to move his BA to .251 -- he's been hitting well lately; and C Paul Phillips was 2-4 to improve to .267.

Omaha is 47-59 and 12 games back of first. Tonight's series finale matchup: RH Dennis Tankersley (7-6, 4.94) vs. Beavers RH Brian Whitaker (0-0, 0.00). Omaha will try to salvage a series win rather than a split.

AA: Wichita bounced back from Wednesday's doubleheader sweep to flex on Arkansas, 13-2, and regain the divisional lead. The Wranglers tied the game at 1 in the 2nd on an RBI single by 2B Brett Groves and took the lead with 3 in the 4th on a Groves HBP, a sac fly by C Mathew Tupman and RBI double by LF Shane Costa. The Wranglers added 1 in the 5th on an RBI single by 3B Brennan King before padding the lead with 4 in the 6th on back-to-back homers by 1B Josh Pressley (a 3-run jack for his 17th) and CF Mitch Maier (his 5th). Wichita scored again in the 7th on a solo shot by DH Cory Aldridge (settling back in quickly at Wichita with his 16th) and finished off the 13-run night with 3 in the 8th on an Aldridge RBI double, Groves RBI ground out and Tupman RBI single. SP Brian Bass had a great game with 8 IP of 2 ER on 6 hits and a BB with 5 Ks to improve to 10-4 with a 5.37 ERA. RP Colt Griffin pitched a near-perfect 9th to drop his ERA to 3.88. Costa was 2-4 with a BB, double and RBI to improve to .287; Pressley was 2-4 with a BB, double, HR, 3 RBI and 3 RS to improve to .298; Maier was 2-5 with a HR, RBI and 2 RS to improve to .241; King was 3-5 with an RBI and 3 RS to improve to .283; and Aldridge was 3-4 with a BB, double, HR, 2 RBI and 3 RS to improve to .285. SS Mike Aviles made an 0-5 night worse with his 29th error. Maybe it's time to move him away from SS. He did OK at 2B, didn't he?

Wichita is 19-15 and a game up on first. The Wranglers undergo their third twinbill in five days as they have two with Arkansas tonight. Matchups: G1 -- RH Ryan Baerlocher (4-2, 2.68) vs. Arkansas LH Willie Collazo (1-2, 3.22). G2 -- RH Wes Wilkerson (0-0, 8.10) vs. Travs SP Kasey Olenberger (5-5, 4.09).

High-A: High Desert was swept at the hands of Visalia last week and returned the favor Thursday with an 11-3 win to complete the 3-game sweep. The Mavs fell behind early, 2-0, but scored in the 3rd on an RBI ground out by SS Angel Sanchez and took the lead for good with 5 in the 5th on an RBI double by C Adam Donachie, a throwing error on a ball hit by 2B Pete Maestrales and a 3-run longball by LF Billy Butler (his 24th). High Desert scored 3 in the 7th on a Butler RBI double and 2-run single by RF Alan Moye and added 2 in the 8th on RBI singles by DH Jared Price and CF Chris Lubanski. SP Devon Lowery got the win with 5 1/3 IP of 2 ER on 6 hits and 4 BB with 6 Ks to move to 3-1 with a 2.89 ERA; RP Drew Endicott went 2 2/3 scoreless IP, giving up only 1 hit and a BB with a K to drop his ERA to 5.99; and RP Nate Moore allowed 1 ER on 2 hits in 1 IP to move his ERA to 4.62. Maestrales was 1-5 to drop to .325; Sanchez was 3-5 with a double, RBI and 3 RS to improve to .287; Butler was 3-4 with a BB, double, HR, 4 RBI and 3 RS to improve to .345; 1B Kila Kaaihue was 0-4 with a BB to drop to .310; Price was 2-5 with an RBI to move to .338; Lubanski was 2-4 with a BB and RBI to move to .282; Moye was 2-5 with 2 RBI to improve to .283; Donachie was 3-5 with a double, BB and 3 RS to improve to .275; and 3B Walter Sevilla was 2-3 with a walk and double to improve to .236.

High Desert is 18-15 and tied with Rancho Cucamonga atop the division. A 3-game set at Lake Elsinore (17-15) starts tonight. No starters announced yet.

Low-A: Burlington's fortunes continued to turn as the Bees lost their third straight to West Michigan, 4-2, Thursday to drop the series to the Whitecaps. The Bees scored in the top of the 1st on an RBI single by C Damaso Espino but West Michigan came back with 2 off SP Luis Cota in their half of the 1st. Burlington scored again in the 7th on a sac fly by SS Irving Falu but couldn't generate any more offense. Cota went 7 IP and allowed 4 ER on 7 hits with 4 Ks to drop to 3-5 with a 3.59 ERA; RP Kraig Schambough went 1 IP and allowed 1 hit with 3 Ks to drop his ERA to 5.14. 3B Edward Lucas was 0-4 to drop to .305; 1B Eddie Solis was 2-4 with a double to improve to .213; and CF Cody Cure was 1-3 with a BB to improve to .301. Falu stole 2 bases to get to 18 on the season.

Burlington is 20-14 and a game back of Quad Cities. Wisconsin (18-16) comes to town tonight to start a 4-gamer. Matchup: LH Danny Christensen (2-4, 3.49) vs. Timber Rattlers RH Ivan Blanco (2-2, 7.08).

Rookie: Idaho Falls' bullpen blew a narrow lead in a big way Thursday as Casper scored 7 in the 7th and 8th to win, 9-3. Casper scored 2 off SP Ryan DiPietro in the 1st but Idaho Falls tied it with runs in the 2nd and 3rd on RBI singles by DH Jeff Howell and 3B Gary Perez. The Chukars took the lead in the 6th on Howell's second RBI single but RPs Adam Kalkhof and Travis Trammell got touched up to falter. DiPietro went 6 IP and allowed 2 ER on 3 hits and a BB with 4 Ks to move his ERA to 6.12; Kalkhof blew his 1st save and got the loss with 1 IP of 2 ER on 3 hits and a BB to drop to 3-2 with a 4.58 ERA; Trammell went 1/3 IP and was credited with 5 R (4 ER) on 4 hits with a K to bump his ERA to 10.80; RP Eliszer Garcia went 2/3 IP and walked 1 with a K to drop his ERA to 4.43; and RP Matt Kniginyzky went a hitless IP and K'd 2 to drop his ERA to 2.77. SS Chris McConnell was 1-5 with a double to drop to .331; Perez was 1-3 with a BB and RBI to drop to .353; 1B Brady Everett was 1-3 with a HBP to drop to .393; and Howell had the best game with a 4-4 night with 2 RBI to improve to .359.

Idaho Falls is 16-21 and 5 games back of first. Tonight's pitching matchup: Bennett Cromer (3-0, 4.07) vs. Casper's Aneury Rodriguez (2-1, 7.39).
The ASL Royals overcame a 5-run 1st from the Giants to win, 9-7, Thursday. LF Jose Duarte led off the game with his 2nd homer of the season to start the Royals off right but the Giants torched SP Juan Abreu for 5 in the 1st thanks in part to 2 Royal errors. The Royals came back with 1 in the 2nd on a Duarte RBI single but the Giants tacked on 2 off Abreu to chase him in the 2nd. The Royals' bullpen held the Giants to 4 hits in the remainder of the game and the offense scored 4 in the 4th on a grand slam by 2B Valentino Arce (big shot for his 1st of the season) before tying it in the 6th on an RBI single by CF Joseph Dickerson. They took the lead to stay in the 8th on RBI singles by Dickerson and RF Felix Peralta. Abreu went 1 1/3 IP and allowed 7 R (4 ER) on 5 hits and 2 BB with a K to move his ERA to 7.20; RP Gilbert De la vara went 3 1/3 IP and allowed 1 hit and 4 BB with a K to drop his ERA to 3.54; RP Henry Barrera got the win with 2 1/3 IP of 2 hits and 2 BB with 2 Ks to move to 1-0 with a 6.18 ERA; and RP Troy Garrett got his 1st save with 2 IP of 1 hit with 1 K to drop his ERA to 5.59. Duarte was 3-6 with a HR, 2 RBI and 2 RS to improve to .403; Arce was 3-5 with the HR and 4 RBI along with 2 RS to improve to .394; Dickerson was 2-5 with 2 RBI to improve to .336; Peralta was 2-5 with an RBI to move to .323; DH Alvi Morel was 1-5 to drop to .382; and SS Carlos Avila made his first appearance of the season and went 1-5.

The ASL Royals are 2-0 and tied with the Mariners for the second-half lead. That tie won't last as the Royals play the M's tonight and then the Angels tomorrow.